Question

1. percy the penguin takes his new belly - sled out for a spin across the frozen pond. he pushes off with 5.2 n of force forward. the ice offers 1.8 n of friction behind him, and the chilly wind tosses in 0.5 n of air resistance. gravity is still doing its thing, but since he’s not sinking (yet), focus on the horizontal forces only. what’s the net force and direction?

Explanation:

Step1: Define forward - force as positive

Let the forward - pushing force $F_{push}=5.2$ N (positive), the friction force $F_{friction}=1.8$ N (negative) and the air - resistance force $F_{air}=0.5$ N (negative).

Step2: Calculate the net force

The net force $F_{net}$ in the horizontal direction is given by the sum of the horizontal forces. $F_{net}=F_{push}-F_{friction}-F_{air}$.
Substitute the values: $F_{net}=5.2 - 1.8-0.5$.
$F_{net}=2.9$ N.
Since $F_{net}>0$, the direction is forward.

Answer:

The net force is $2.9$ N and the direction is forward.